The basic 3D animation model is formed by engineering virtual frameworks on the computer, and shaping them into the objects that we need. 3D animation today is everywhere: in advertisements all over, on websites, on video games and in the movies. What kind of person is prime material for a 3D animator? 3D animation is still an art, and an artistic bent as such is the greatest asset to have. The successful animators of today have invariably found a beginning by first learning basic pencil art and painting. The artistic base is so important that 3D animation Studios will often consider hiring an artist for his artistic ability even if he has no knowledge of computer animation software. Just a folder full of well-done pencil drawings or paintings are often enough to impress the studio into hiring a candidate. Sculptors and clay modelers also have a great start waiting for them in 3D animation.
A successful 3D animator is someone who has a nature that operates in ways that help in art. Patience, an ability to stay on the job until it is done, and an eye for detail, openness to criticism, are all qualities that a 3D animating artist, or any artist for that matter would need. Novice 3D artists often look longingly at the artistic excellence to be seen in the art of experienced artists and feel inadequate themselves. While the work of great artists can motivate if you look at it the right way, you need the patience to spend a lifetime mastering this art. All good things come to those who wait. Compared to traditional artists and cartoonists, 3D artists will often have a strong interest in computers. In fact 3D artists will often have a great deal of programming skill too. To bring talents and experience from diverse backgrounds in computers and art to create beauty, requires a special kind of mind.
Drawing by hand is hard enough; when you work through the intermediate medium of the computer, the intimate feeling of pencil to paper is gone; all you have to guide you, working through the medium of the computer are your sense, and your instincts. The artistry involved in 3-D animation is unlike what is involved in any other art: it can require the animator to be an excellent actor, artist, humorist and team player, doing all of this not with an audience, but with a computer. For such intense involvement, creative 3-D animators are rewarded with a great deal of job satisfaction and financial return.
Artists deal in interpretations of human emotion. A subject of artistic involvement such as this is quite subjective; but it is possible still for others to offer constructive criticism. It is important for 3D animated artists to be able to see that a person who offers criticism does not mean to enter into a contest about who has the better judgment. A 3D animator needs the openness to see when criticism is valid and when it is not.
To be an artist is not a simple matter; to be an artist in an area that offers no real contact with the audience, such as work on the computer, is no simple matter indeed. This was a short look at the kind of mental makeup of person would need to be a 3-D animator. If anyone were to have such a level of maturity, or if they were confident that they could grow into one, then certainly, 3-D animation is their calling.
